Birthdays
by PatrickMcKinney
Summary: Two Fics, written for Remus' and Severus' birthdays respectively. Slightly slashy. Fluff!
1. Chapter 1

Remus was determined to have some fun on his birthday, but the irony gods did not seem in his favor.

It was one of those dreary days where the weather could not make up its mind, and settled for making everyone gloomy. It had been a full moon the night before and Remus still felt like shit, and, to top it all off, he'd been coerced into covering Care of Magical Creatures by a very ill Hagrid, who had quite obviously forgotten that although he was probably the only other teacher that could manage the "forceful handleing" necessary for Abraxan Palominos, horses and wolves of any kind simply did not mix, especially horses that could pull half of Beauxbatons academy through the air in a carriage. He'd had to spend over an hour trying to stop students from being trampled.

Even worse, he'd accidentally caught sight of himself in a suit of armor, so now he not only felt like he'd been drawn and quartered but knew he looked it too, which somehow made the whole business that much worse.

Trudging into his office and narrowly avoiding knocking over an empty cage, he flopped into an armchair before promptly leaping up again.

Settled on the seat was a (now slightly-squashed) package wrapped in brown paper. Picking it up curiously, Remus sat again and pulled open the wrapping. Inside were a book of Oscar Wilde and a bar of chocolate.

Remus was stunned. A birthday present? But no one knew- how could? And such an apt one at that…

Poking out of the top of the book was a small note. Remus pulled it out to read it.

_"Remus- This is not a birthday present, but an attempt to get you and your teenage sulkiness out from under my feet. If I see you moping about the castle like a little girl again I will not be responsible for my actions._

_-Severus Snape"_

Remus blinked, and started to laugh. He laughed and laughed until the mud caked on his boots and the exhaustion in his bones didn't seem to matter anymore. He kicked off his shoes and tossed his cloak over his desk, settling in for what had unexpectedly become a lovely birthday evening.

He would, of course, have to apologize for his terribly juvenile behavior. He grinned, flipping through the collection of short stories and plays until he found _The Importance of Being Earnest,_ and made mental note to investigate Severus' literary preferences at a later date. And to inquire in his most Sirius tone, what actions precisely Severus had in mind.

"_Trust Severus to thwart irony_," he thought, and began to read.


	2. Chapter 2

Contrary to popular belief, Severus did not hate his birthday. Nor any other celebration for that matter. He honestly didn't care. It was just the antics people got up to that drove him mad: The singing Valentines full of adolescent poetry between classes or Flitwicks egg-nog-soaked antics at Christmas or even that one terrible year that that idiot Lockhart had tried to stage a surprise birthday party in the staff room. (He shook his head, trying to dispel the memory of the terrifying sound of 30 magical kazoos.) No, celebrations were not for him.

But he couldn't help feeling that grading essays on the uses of mandrake was not the best way to spend the day. (The students were getting more blockheaded every year…) But what else was there to do? It was freezing outside and it wasn't as if there was anyone worth spending the day with. Perhaps he'd just shred the essays and finish up some research-

Severus looked up at the knock on his office door.

"Enter."

The wolf poked his head through the door, looking remarkably healthy for once. Cheeks flushed from the cold and snow melting in his hair, Lupin smiled that damnable smile that made Severus' heart do strange things for no apparent reason. (Damn, there it went again.)

"Did you want something Lupin?" he asked in his most disinterested voice, trying to look back at the papers and away from the smile.

"I thought you might want to go for a cup of coffee, if you're not busy. Get out of the castle for the day."

Severus paused, refusal on the tip of his tongue.

"Why not."

Lupin blinked in surprise as Severus stood up and pushed in his chair.

Severus smirked slightly. "Well?"

Remus colored. "Right. Leaky Cauldron alright with you? I never could stand Puddifoots…"

"Must you babble Lupin?"

And as they walked out of his office and up the stairs, Lupin half laughing as he tried to defend his inane comments, Severus thought that, perhaps, birthdays weren't really all that bad.


End file.
